Anna Maerker, Kings College London: "Preparing materials and users in the conservation of anatomical specimens"

Abstract
The representation of the body in three dimensions is crucial for artistic practice as well as for medical education, and anatomists and artists have long resorted to a wide range of practices and materials to mimic the visual and haptic qualities of flesh. Historians such as Lucia Dacome have provided rich insights into the cultural connotations of popular materials of anatomical mimicry such as wax. With this paper I want to turn this problem on its head. Instead of asking how to substitute human tissue by using other materials, I ask: How we keep flesh looking (and feeling) like itself? How do we preserve flesh for the purposes of medical education?